RIVALS SAY THEY DO NOT FEAR RISK OF LOSING TO DNA
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
THE PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party and Free National Movement candidates for Bamboo Town said they are not concerned about the possibility of losing to incumbent, Branville McCartney.
When asked what they thought their chances were in Bamboo Town, Renward Wells, the PLP candidate, and Cassius Stuart, the FNM candidate, both said DNA leader Mr McCartney has no chance of retaining his seat.
Mr Wells said: "I don't think its going to be a close race at all. In fact, I am going to win by more than 50 per cent of the vote. Mr McCartney will be pleasantly surprised.
"I know Bamboo Town has been FNM since 1987 but that was because of Tennyson Wells. Mr Wells convinced them that FNM was the better party and now I will convince them that PLP is the way to go.
"Cassius Stuart is my biggest competition, we are both cut from the same cloth. Mr McCartney will be easy to beat."
Mr Stuart agreed that Mr McCartney is no competition and said he won't even get one per cent of the vote.
"Everyone who stood with Mr McCartney now stands with me. He has some support but it is nothing significant," he said.
"The people are tired of persons being elected on the FNM ticket then abandoning them for their own personal interests.
"They always knew Mr McCartney had an ulterior motive because he painted his constituency office green and not red.
"I am going to knock Bran out. The only running he'll be doing is out of Bamboo Town."
The comments from both men came after Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said Bamboo Town is a "test case" to see which one of the men will emerge as the winner.
He said: "I have taken two gentlemen who wanted to be leaders and put them up as candidates.
"There is another member there, in the person of the Member of Parliament for Bamboo Town, who wants to be a leader."
He added: "We have asked them to fight in their league down there to see which one of them is eligible to be leader. You have to win first."
For his part, Mr McCartney said the fact that the three men, two of whom were at one point leaders of third parties, are running in the same constituency is no coincidence.
He said: "The whole thing is a ploy for Mr Ingraham and Mr Christie to get Renward Wells and Cassius Stuart out of the way to stop them from joining forces.
"They planned this whole thing from the beginning to put us against each other."
The prime minister has indicated that he will not cut the boundaries of Bamboo Town - even if the Boundaries Commission recommends it.
October 12, 2011
tribune242
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label Cassius Stuart Bahamas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassius Stuart Bahamas. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
A Free National Movement (FNM) source says: ... Branville McCartney will lose his Bamboo Town Parliamentary Seat in the next election to Cassius Stuart, who is the FNM party's unofficial candidate for the area
McCartney says FNM comments a 'slap in the face to Bamboo Town residents'
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Deputy Chief Reporter
tthompson@tribunemedia.net
SUGGESTIONS that Bamboo Town is an FNM constituency is a "slap in the face" to residents of the area who deserve full representation regardless of political affiliation, MP Branville McCartney said.
His comments came after a source in the Free National Movement said Mr McCartney will lose his seat in the next election to Cassius Stuart, who is the party's unofficial candidate for the area.
"I think that it's almost a slap in the face to Bahamian people. It is a constituency for the Bahamian people," said Mr McCartney, as he prepared to host a town meeting in Grand Bahama yesterday.
The former FNM member said he had hoped that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham would be the party's candidate to challenge him in a "leader-to-leader" battle.
"I was a bit disappointed to hear that Cassius may be running especially after the prime minister and (members of his) Cabinet went down there a few months ago and indicated that they were sure it was an FNM seat and the prime minister and the Cabinet apologised for sending me there.
"I thought it was going to be leader against leader," he said.
Earlier this week, a well-placed source in the FNM said Mr Stuart will beat Mr McCartney because constituents in Bamboo Town are "hard-core" FNM supporters.
"Bamboo Town is like what Bain Town is to the PLP, hard-core, and the people are very upset that Branville abandoned them the same way they were upset when (former area MP) Tennyson Wells did it to them. Bamboo Town is FNM and will go back to the FNM," said the source.
Yesterday Mr McCartney said he does not know if voters in the area he represents will back Mr Stuart, or the Progressive Liberal Party's candidate Renward Wells.
But he said his work in Bamboo Town over the last four years speaks for itself.
"I've done my part as a representative. We have a number of programmes that started from 2007 and we do (area) walkabouts once a week."
"I can't say whether or not they would vote for him or others. Obviously there is going to be a three-way race or more, the Bahamian people and the people of Bamboo Town will have to decide," he said.
September 23, 2011
tribune242
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Deputy Chief Reporter
tthompson@tribunemedia.net
SUGGESTIONS that Bamboo Town is an FNM constituency is a "slap in the face" to residents of the area who deserve full representation regardless of political affiliation, MP Branville McCartney said.
His comments came after a source in the Free National Movement said Mr McCartney will lose his seat in the next election to Cassius Stuart, who is the party's unofficial candidate for the area.
"I think that it's almost a slap in the face to Bahamian people. It is a constituency for the Bahamian people," said Mr McCartney, as he prepared to host a town meeting in Grand Bahama yesterday.
The former FNM member said he had hoped that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham would be the party's candidate to challenge him in a "leader-to-leader" battle.
"I was a bit disappointed to hear that Cassius may be running especially after the prime minister and (members of his) Cabinet went down there a few months ago and indicated that they were sure it was an FNM seat and the prime minister and the Cabinet apologised for sending me there.
"I thought it was going to be leader against leader," he said.
Earlier this week, a well-placed source in the FNM said Mr Stuart will beat Mr McCartney because constituents in Bamboo Town are "hard-core" FNM supporters.
"Bamboo Town is like what Bain Town is to the PLP, hard-core, and the people are very upset that Branville abandoned them the same way they were upset when (former area MP) Tennyson Wells did it to them. Bamboo Town is FNM and will go back to the FNM," said the source.
Yesterday Mr McCartney said he does not know if voters in the area he represents will back Mr Stuart, or the Progressive Liberal Party's candidate Renward Wells.
But he said his work in Bamboo Town over the last four years speaks for itself.
"I've done my part as a representative. We have a number of programmes that started from 2007 and we do (area) walkabouts once a week."
"I can't say whether or not they would vote for him or others. Obviously there is going to be a three-way race or more, the Bahamian people and the people of Bamboo Town will have to decide," he said.
September 23, 2011
tribune242
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Cassius Stuart likened Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe and former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide - when he met with a U.S. Embassy official in Nassau - according to diplomatic cables
Stuart compared PM to dictator
By CANDIA DAMES
NG News Editor
thenassauguardian
candia@nasguard.com
Cables reveal former BDM leader's statements to Americans
When Cassius Stuart met with a U.S. Embassy official before the Elizabeth by-election last year, he claimed he had been approached by Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leader Perry Christie “who said he was looking for someone to mold to eventually take over the leadership of the PLP.” Stuart also likened Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, according to one of the diplomatic cables The Nassau Guardian obtained through the whistle-blowing non-profit organization WikiLeaks.
Now a member of the Free National Movement (FNM), Stuart was leader of the Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM) at the time.
The cable said Stuart also likened Ingraham to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and said the PM was “letting the country go to hell and allowing it to be bought by China”.
But a lot has changed since the by-election and Stuart’s meetings with the American diplomats.
He joined the FNM in April this year, acknowledging at the time that the move was a good one for the members of the BDM because the FNM’s ideals matched theirs.
“My message over the past decade has been adding value to the lives of every Bahamian,” Stuart said at a press conference to announce the BDM members’ decision to join the FNM.
“Moving forward, the prime minister has assured us that the next years will be just that, building lives.”
According to the cable, Stuart had been highly critical of FNM policies, which he said caused the country to be in such a position that it could “easily become another Haiti”.
He told the embassy official that the United States had a stake in not allowing this to happen because “you don’t want boat loads of Bahamians to begin arriving on your shores.”
He also raised what he characterized as “significant concerns” about the Government of The Bahamas being courted by the People’s Republic of China.
According to the cable, Stuart told the American diplomat the country’s education system was “randomly drifting…We’re stuck on a treadmill and we’re moving backwards.”
Regarding the purported offer by Christie, Stuart said he told the PLP leader he could not align himself with either of the major parties because of the endemic corruption in both, according to the cable.
Stuart said the only defining line in the February 2010 Elizabeth by-election between the BDM and the other two major political parties was resources, the cable said.
He said if he could raise $250,000 he would win the election, noting that he needed to get free T-shirts out into the community.
The Nassau Guardian contacted Stuart yesterday about the information contained in the diplomatic documents. He seemed surprised when told what was attributed to him, but did not deny the comments.
Asked whether it is still his view that corruption is endemic in the FNM, he explained that he had not referred specifically to the party, but was suggesting that because corruption is widespread in certain agencies of the country, as the government the FNM needed to take the blame.
Stuart was also asked about his comment, which suggested that Christie wanted to groom him to take over the leadership of the PLP.
“I think they (the Americans) took it a little out of context. He (Christie) said he wanted to court someone to take over the party,” the former BDM leader explained.
“It wasn’t necessarily me.”
Regarding his reported Mugabe comment, Stuart said, “I can’t definitively remember the conversation, but I do remember we were talking about leaders who served a long time and at that time Mugabe was headline news as a leader of his country for a long time and in that context we were talking.”
Asked about his overall impressions of what the Americans recorded from their conversations with him, Stuart said, “It’s interesting. I think they have a responsibility to communicate their findings within a society to their government. This whole leaking of secret cable information, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.
“It’s interesting that everything that comes out of your mouth is recorded. You have to be very careful what you say. We had casual conversations on many occasions…I didn’t realize that this information was being highly documented for the president of the United States.”
ELIZABETH BY-ELECTION
The Elizabeth by-election cable noted that the election could very well be a bellwether for the next general election.
The cable also details the resignation of Malcolm Adderley (former Elizabeth MP) from the PLP and the House of Assembly.
It noted that Christie accused the FNM government of undermining democracy by offering Adderley a Supreme Court position, which he thinks necessitated Adderley’s resignation.
But there was never any evidence of this.
The cable pointed out that PLP chairman Bradley Roberts remarked that both Adderley and former PLP Kenyatta Gibson (MP for Kennedy) were trying to destabilize the party.
Stuart ended up receiving fewer than 100 votes in the election, which was won by the PLP’s Ryan Pinder.
The cable points out that Pinder at the time had “strong ties to the U.S.”.
“Pinder was a dual Bahamian-U.S. citizen but renounced his citizenship on January 19 (2010) after bowing to pressure from his own party,” the cable said.
At the time, the U.S. embassy official wrote: “Pinder is noticeably one of the few white members of his party and the role that his race will play in garnering grassroots PLP support for him as a candidate remains to be seen.”
The embassy official also wrote that despite the fact that Pinder is a white member of an overwhelmingly black party, one contact said the constituency is so heavily rooted in the PLP the party “could nominate a puppy and it would be elected”.
In the cable, the diplomat reports in detail about what speakers at a PLP rally had to say on January 19, 2010.
The cable noted that the focus of many of the speakers was Ingraham’s decision to grant temporary protective status to illegal Haitian detainees in the wake of the Haiti earthquake.
“While not directly criticizing the decision, the PLP said they were not consulted and argued that the move was designed to ‘cause strife and separation’,” noted the cable.
In referring to the FNM’s candidate, Dr. Duane Sands, the diplomat noted that he is a cousin of National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest and a prominent heart surgeon.
The diplomat wrote, “Sands has been difficult for the PLP to criticize because he is well-respected in the community. Therefore, the focus has been on aligning him with the policies of PM Ingraham.”
The American diplomat wrote that while media reports were generally predicting a PLP victory, many articles indicated that Elizabeth residents were open to a third party candidate and were “sick of both parties”.
“Some of the third party candidates have called for campaign finance reform in the run up to the election, an acknowledgement of the view that whoever spends the most will win,” noted the cable.
The diplomat also wrote: “The opposition party PLP is likely to win what promises to be a close election, which would boost their chances in the national elections.
“Despite favorable media attention for third party candidates, this race is strictly a PLP and FNM affair. A poor economy and increasing crime play favorably for the PLP.
“However, bolstering the position of the FNM was the poor performance and lack of resources that the previous PLP candidate (Malcolm Adderley) was able to bring to the constituency.
“Although no one has publicly questioned Pinder’s race, privately, contacts admit it could be a significant factor. The key will be the amount of resources each party is able to spend on the election.”
Several weeks after the election, the Election Court declared Pinder the winner of the race after allowing his challenged votes.
5/25/2011
thenassauguardian
By CANDIA DAMES
NG News Editor
thenassauguardian
candia@nasguard.com
Cables reveal former BDM leader's statements to Americans
When Cassius Stuart met with a U.S. Embassy official before the Elizabeth by-election last year, he claimed he had been approached by Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leader Perry Christie “who said he was looking for someone to mold to eventually take over the leadership of the PLP.” Stuart also likened Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, according to one of the diplomatic cables The Nassau Guardian obtained through the whistle-blowing non-profit organization WikiLeaks.
Now a member of the Free National Movement (FNM), Stuart was leader of the Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM) at the time.
The cable said Stuart also likened Ingraham to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and said the PM was “letting the country go to hell and allowing it to be bought by China”.
But a lot has changed since the by-election and Stuart’s meetings with the American diplomats.
He joined the FNM in April this year, acknowledging at the time that the move was a good one for the members of the BDM because the FNM’s ideals matched theirs.
“My message over the past decade has been adding value to the lives of every Bahamian,” Stuart said at a press conference to announce the BDM members’ decision to join the FNM.
“Moving forward, the prime minister has assured us that the next years will be just that, building lives.”
According to the cable, Stuart had been highly critical of FNM policies, which he said caused the country to be in such a position that it could “easily become another Haiti”.
He told the embassy official that the United States had a stake in not allowing this to happen because “you don’t want boat loads of Bahamians to begin arriving on your shores.”
He also raised what he characterized as “significant concerns” about the Government of The Bahamas being courted by the People’s Republic of China.
According to the cable, Stuart told the American diplomat the country’s education system was “randomly drifting…We’re stuck on a treadmill and we’re moving backwards.”
Regarding the purported offer by Christie, Stuart said he told the PLP leader he could not align himself with either of the major parties because of the endemic corruption in both, according to the cable.
Stuart said the only defining line in the February 2010 Elizabeth by-election between the BDM and the other two major political parties was resources, the cable said.
He said if he could raise $250,000 he would win the election, noting that he needed to get free T-shirts out into the community.
The Nassau Guardian contacted Stuart yesterday about the information contained in the diplomatic documents. He seemed surprised when told what was attributed to him, but did not deny the comments.
Asked whether it is still his view that corruption is endemic in the FNM, he explained that he had not referred specifically to the party, but was suggesting that because corruption is widespread in certain agencies of the country, as the government the FNM needed to take the blame.
Stuart was also asked about his comment, which suggested that Christie wanted to groom him to take over the leadership of the PLP.
“I think they (the Americans) took it a little out of context. He (Christie) said he wanted to court someone to take over the party,” the former BDM leader explained.
“It wasn’t necessarily me.”
Regarding his reported Mugabe comment, Stuart said, “I can’t definitively remember the conversation, but I do remember we were talking about leaders who served a long time and at that time Mugabe was headline news as a leader of his country for a long time and in that context we were talking.”
Asked about his overall impressions of what the Americans recorded from their conversations with him, Stuart said, “It’s interesting. I think they have a responsibility to communicate their findings within a society to their government. This whole leaking of secret cable information, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.
“It’s interesting that everything that comes out of your mouth is recorded. You have to be very careful what you say. We had casual conversations on many occasions…I didn’t realize that this information was being highly documented for the president of the United States.”
ELIZABETH BY-ELECTION
The Elizabeth by-election cable noted that the election could very well be a bellwether for the next general election.
The cable also details the resignation of Malcolm Adderley (former Elizabeth MP) from the PLP and the House of Assembly.
It noted that Christie accused the FNM government of undermining democracy by offering Adderley a Supreme Court position, which he thinks necessitated Adderley’s resignation.
But there was never any evidence of this.
The cable pointed out that PLP chairman Bradley Roberts remarked that both Adderley and former PLP Kenyatta Gibson (MP for Kennedy) were trying to destabilize the party.
Stuart ended up receiving fewer than 100 votes in the election, which was won by the PLP’s Ryan Pinder.
The cable points out that Pinder at the time had “strong ties to the U.S.”.
“Pinder was a dual Bahamian-U.S. citizen but renounced his citizenship on January 19 (2010) after bowing to pressure from his own party,” the cable said.
At the time, the U.S. embassy official wrote: “Pinder is noticeably one of the few white members of his party and the role that his race will play in garnering grassroots PLP support for him as a candidate remains to be seen.”
The embassy official also wrote that despite the fact that Pinder is a white member of an overwhelmingly black party, one contact said the constituency is so heavily rooted in the PLP the party “could nominate a puppy and it would be elected”.
In the cable, the diplomat reports in detail about what speakers at a PLP rally had to say on January 19, 2010.
The cable noted that the focus of many of the speakers was Ingraham’s decision to grant temporary protective status to illegal Haitian detainees in the wake of the Haiti earthquake.
“While not directly criticizing the decision, the PLP said they were not consulted and argued that the move was designed to ‘cause strife and separation’,” noted the cable.
In referring to the FNM’s candidate, Dr. Duane Sands, the diplomat noted that he is a cousin of National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest and a prominent heart surgeon.
The diplomat wrote, “Sands has been difficult for the PLP to criticize because he is well-respected in the community. Therefore, the focus has been on aligning him with the policies of PM Ingraham.”
The American diplomat wrote that while media reports were generally predicting a PLP victory, many articles indicated that Elizabeth residents were open to a third party candidate and were “sick of both parties”.
“Some of the third party candidates have called for campaign finance reform in the run up to the election, an acknowledgement of the view that whoever spends the most will win,” noted the cable.
The diplomat also wrote: “The opposition party PLP is likely to win what promises to be a close election, which would boost their chances in the national elections.
“Despite favorable media attention for third party candidates, this race is strictly a PLP and FNM affair. A poor economy and increasing crime play favorably for the PLP.
“However, bolstering the position of the FNM was the poor performance and lack of resources that the previous PLP candidate (Malcolm Adderley) was able to bring to the constituency.
“Although no one has publicly questioned Pinder’s race, privately, contacts admit it could be a significant factor. The key will be the amount of resources each party is able to spend on the election.”
Several weeks after the election, the Election Court declared Pinder the winner of the race after allowing his challenged votes.
5/25/2011
thenassauguardian
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Cassius Stuart’s decision to join the governing Free National Movement (FNM) party demonstrates that he has the sense to know when a lost cause should be abandoned
Is Cassius Stuart still credible?
thenassauguardian editorial
Cassius Stuart spent much of the last decade raging against the political order as the leader of the Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM). The BDM argued that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and the Free National Movement (FNM) were not good enough for The Bahamas.
Stuart and the BDM — a fringe party — were never successful building up the clout necessary to challenge for a seat in the House of Assembly.
So after a decade trying, Stuart and the BDM have gone to the FNM.
Can you blame them? At the February 2010 Elizabeth by-election, Stuart, a ‘party’ leader, was not even able to secure enough votes to get back his election deposit. That was clearly a sign that the BDM had gone nowhere.
We think third parties should dedicate the time necessary to build the brand. Stuart and the BDM did this and, over time, there was no meaningful connection between the organization and the people.
It is expected that at least Stuart — out of the BDM executives who joined the FNM — will be named an FNM candidate at the next general election.
His decision, and that of the other BDM members, was pragmatic. It merely demonstrates what all should know: Politics is not about ideals, but about power. To achieve the goal of being able to exercise power, the BDM realized that it needed to join one of the mainstream parties.
The BDM members should not be criticized for losing the childlike idealism they had. In fact, they should be commended for offering themselves as candidates over the years rather than merely complaining about the state of the country from the sidelines.
Stuart’s decision demonstrates that he has the sense to know when a lost cause should be abandoned.
“Today, the same message that guided us in the wilderness over this past decade is the message that has been embraced by the Free National Movement — a message we believe will touch the lives of every man, woman and child in our archipelago,” said Stuart last week when he was welcomed to the party at FNM headquarters.
Dr. Andre Rollins did the same thing. He abandoned the fledgling National Development Party (NDP) and is now a candidate for the PLP in a winnable seat (Ft. Charlotte).
What young politicians must learn is that they should not let youthful zeal lead them to make statements in the public sphere they will later regret when powerful political leaders offer them ‘things’ and they then abandoned all they once claimed to believe and support.
Stuart and Dr. Rollins are now in the mainstream. They both will now likely have good chances at winning a seat at the election. The things they said about the FNM and PLP in the past were merely words aimed at a goal. They now have what they wanted. The words and deeds worked.
4/17/2011
thenassauguardian editorial
thenassauguardian editorial
Cassius Stuart spent much of the last decade raging against the political order as the leader of the Bahamas Democratic Movement (BDM). The BDM argued that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and the Free National Movement (FNM) were not good enough for The Bahamas.
Stuart and the BDM — a fringe party — were never successful building up the clout necessary to challenge for a seat in the House of Assembly.
So after a decade trying, Stuart and the BDM have gone to the FNM.
Can you blame them? At the February 2010 Elizabeth by-election, Stuart, a ‘party’ leader, was not even able to secure enough votes to get back his election deposit. That was clearly a sign that the BDM had gone nowhere.
We think third parties should dedicate the time necessary to build the brand. Stuart and the BDM did this and, over time, there was no meaningful connection between the organization and the people.
It is expected that at least Stuart — out of the BDM executives who joined the FNM — will be named an FNM candidate at the next general election.
His decision, and that of the other BDM members, was pragmatic. It merely demonstrates what all should know: Politics is not about ideals, but about power. To achieve the goal of being able to exercise power, the BDM realized that it needed to join one of the mainstream parties.
The BDM members should not be criticized for losing the childlike idealism they had. In fact, they should be commended for offering themselves as candidates over the years rather than merely complaining about the state of the country from the sidelines.
Stuart’s decision demonstrates that he has the sense to know when a lost cause should be abandoned.
“Today, the same message that guided us in the wilderness over this past decade is the message that has been embraced by the Free National Movement — a message we believe will touch the lives of every man, woman and child in our archipelago,” said Stuart last week when he was welcomed to the party at FNM headquarters.
Dr. Andre Rollins did the same thing. He abandoned the fledgling National Development Party (NDP) and is now a candidate for the PLP in a winnable seat (Ft. Charlotte).
What young politicians must learn is that they should not let youthful zeal lead them to make statements in the public sphere they will later regret when powerful political leaders offer them ‘things’ and they then abandoned all they once claimed to believe and support.
Stuart and Dr. Rollins are now in the mainstream. They both will now likely have good chances at winning a seat at the election. The things they said about the FNM and PLP in the past were merely words aimed at a goal. They now have what they wanted. The words and deeds worked.
4/17/2011
thenassauguardian editorial
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)